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[namre]

If you really want to prototype an idea of yours but don't have a lot of time to invest on it, why not try game development programs like Construct or Game Maker that are designed for fast prototyping.

Sometimes playing your idea in your head is just isn't enough. There are times that you need to get to play it that you really get to feel the game. That's why I think prototyping is important. At least for me ^_^

[Montoli]

As food for thought for the prototype prototype prototype crowd (I'm not a massive fan of prototyping myself, I'd rather get stuck straight in, but I completely understand why you do it):

How do you decide which of your game ideas are worth prototyping?

Let me turn it around:  If can't decide on one to gamble a couple hours prototyping on, how can you possibly decide on one to gamble weeks or months on as an actual project?  I view the prototypes as part of the actual culling mechanism itself.  They are what help me answer "is this as fun as I think it is?  I want to know before I invest a ton of time..."

Anyway, also, I don't know who here reads the Lost Garden blog, but this recent article seems to be pretty much directly relevant to this thread.

[namre]

Anyway, also, I don't know who here reads the Lost Garden blog, but this recent article seems to be pretty much directly relevant to this thread.

Thanks for the article! It was really helpful.

[Jonathan Whiting]

How do you decide which of your game ideas are worth prototyping?

Let me turn it around:  If can't decide on one to gamble a couple hours prototyping on, how can you possibly decide on one to gamble weeks or months on as an actual project?  

Maybe I'm explaining myself badly.  That wasn't intended as an argument against prototyping at all.  I just saw that there was an interesting question in the original post that had seemed to have been hidden.  Namely: How does someone decide which ideas are worth any of their time.

In fact, I seriously regret putting that little "I don't prototype" aside in my first post here, as it seems to be what people have latched onto.  Prototyping is great, it works for many people, but at the moment it doesn't do much for me.

Anyway, also, I don't know who here reads the Lost Garden blog, but this recent article seems to be pretty much directly relevant to this thread.

Thanks for the link, I enjoyed it.  

[Jimbob]

I really loved that LostGarden blog, was going to link it myself before you posted it.
Trying to establish metrics for how 'good' an idea is very hard, but there's good stuff to pull out from that article...

I think if you've got too many ideas and are worrying which is the best to take forward, I like Danc's suggestion of seeing how many ways it could be twisted 'in your head' first. If it seems a very strict and rigid idea, maybe there's less in it that you first thought. If there's multiple ways it could be expanded, or implemented, then make a prototype and explore that to see if it can be taken further.

One thing I've taken away from the article is to not worry about failing. Make something. It may not work. It may not be the perfect implementation of your idea. BUT! It is conclusive proof of such an implementation, and no-one really has to see it, but you've learnt something about an idea, it's limitations, it's potential. And that is more real than you can achieve through pure thought experiments...

[s0]

One thing I've taken away from the article is to not worry about failing. Make something. It may not work. It may not be the perfect implementation of your idea. BUT! It is conclusive proof of such an implementation, and no-one really has to see it, but you've learnt something about an idea, it's limitations, it's potential. And that is more real than you can achieve through pure thought experiments...

Going a bit further than that, I think it's helpful to stop thinking of "perfectly implementing your idea" or "realizing your vision" as the highest ideal to aspire to. So what if your Grand Vision turns out to be a load of bullshit? Adapt it, change it into something that isn't. Stop clinging to bad ideas. Drop the perfectionism.

[XRA]

I see prototyping as breaking a game idea down and separating the tangible feel of controls, responsiveness of interaction, mechanics, from the art side of things.. identifying the minimal that is needed to get the point across.  In the long run, practicing that and deconstructing + identifying the important components of other games will make you a better designer overall.

You don't have to think of prototyping as always getting a fully functional mock-up of your game as an end goal, sure that can be nice, but really narrow it down more into individual components and get those feeling as you imagine it in your head, without spending time on unneeded art assets.  Yea, you likely will still need art assets to prototype with, but focus on the things with a large read, the big shapes, rough strokes, things that get the point across quickly and are easy to throw away or iterate on as needed. Really keep in mind the speed, kinetic energy and overall movement of stuff like animations or effects if the polished representation of those are important to what you're prototyping...it is possible to get the point across with simple shapes.

Personally I always start on the player controls, either working off of what I've done before or identifying the new functionality I need and getting it feeling right.  I like to feel the controls working a certain way as the first thing I do, I could care less about hit points, quantities of things, or detailed balancing, because that is stuff that can be endlessly tweaked away and likely will be if the game gets to a serious point..   Getting the basics feeling solid and good right from the start with the least amount of supporting assets is excellent and I think builds a good foundation for prototyping the rest of your game's components and building the idea upward.